Lawrence, Ava (2005). Artists and Their Managers Take Control:
The Evolving Role of the Artist in Today’s Music Industry. MEIEA
Journal vol 5 No 1, 91-101.

Artists and Their Managers Take
Control: The Evolving Role of the Artist in Today’s Music Industry

Ava Lawrence, Northeastern University

The music industry is in a perpetual state of
transformation. Ever since its beginning, evolutions in technology,
law, and the music itself, have empowered creative minds to invite
humanity on a perpetual journey of artistic and entrepreneurial
innovation. Today, artists have more options for production,
distribution, and marketing than ever before. Working with their
managers, artists can take more control over their careers, retain the
rights to their masters and compositions, and provide a more stable and
consistent income stream. It is no longer necessary to rely on a record
label for a successful career. Artists can take advantage of creating
their own masters, license their masters to record labels, manage their
own publishing, seek licensing deals for additional revenue and
alternative promotional opportunities, utilize the internet to reach a
broader audience, and manage merchandising and touring opportunities.

Since August, 2004 there have been numerous articles
supporting the model of artists assuming more responsibilities and
pursuing different marketing avenues for their music. In his front-page
article in the August 7, 2004 issue of Billboard, Michael Paoletta
describes a slow transition from a full-service record label to a label
that is essentially hired by an artist to promote and distribute an
album. Record companies are not giving away this control without a
fight. Michael Coren, in his August 20, 2004 article on CNN.com,
“Simple Downloads, Complex Change: Online Music Transforms Experience
for Fans, Industry,” describes how record companies are struggling to
remain the hub of the business. The article “Mobile Material Girl” in
the August 26, 2004 Wall Street Journal illustrates another example of
how artists are taking more responsibility for their music. The author
describes how Madonna promotes her music without the assistance of her
record label by offering to sell ring tones on her own website.

Traditionally, a record label facilitates the
recording, manufacturing, distributing, and marketing of an album.
However, these services come at a high price. In return for the record
label essentially lending money to an artist to jump-start a career,
the label takes a hefty fee. In most cases, the record label retains
the rights to an artist’s masters for the duration of its copyright.
The record label takes a percentage of income from record sales and
licensing revenue. Traditionally, artists do not earn any money from
the sale or license of their recordings until all costs have been
recouped as outlined in their recording agreements. Getting signed to a
record label is not always the path to success—we’ve seen this with
numerous artists whose names and careers we cannot recall. It often
requires sales of a million units to recoup what the record company
invested to create and market the recording. This is not a secure way
for an artist to live. If an artist’s CD does not enjoy significant
sales, there is a strong chance that he or she will be dropped from the
label. Under this business model, it is very difficult to succeed. In
2002, of the 35,000 albums released, fewer than 5,000 sold more than
1,000 units.1 Artists need to take more responsibility for their
business. Thanks to rapid advances in technology, and increasing
opportunities in marketing, artists can now take more control of their
careers.

Many consider the manager to be the hub of the
artist’s career. The reality for years, however, has been that the
label has assumed the dominant role in developing musical careers.
Recent developments indicate that a new model is taking shape—one in
which the manager becomes the center of activity. Along with the
traditional tasks, the manager is taking on even more responsibility.
In this new model the manager is still a career guide and confidant.
Increasingly, we will see the manager and the artist form an active
team consisting of a lawyer, business manager, and agent. The manager
will continue to be the link between the team, the record label, and
the artist. In this model the manager will have better control over the
artist’s image and career because he or she will work for placement of
music in film projects, television shows, videogames, ring tones and
commercials. The manager will also advise on music publishing and
merchandising deals. He or she will work with an agent to book live
performances. Recording will now fall under the responsibility of the
artist and the manager, not the record label. The manager already
participates in many of these aspects of the artist’s career. However,
in this new scenario the manager is more active in seeking,
negotiating, and following through on these opportunities. The
principal differences between this model and the traditional one is
that in the new model the artist retains the rights to his or her
copyrights and the artist begins to earn royalties from record one
rather than waiting to recoup the label’s advance.

Recordings

Rather than pursuing a standard label deal, an
artist and manager could choose to record and produce the music
themselves and then pursue a licensing deal with a record label. The
label would assume responsibility for distribution and marketing at the
retail level and for radio promotion. It could either be a national or
global license depending on the ability and interest of both the label
and the artist. Under the new model the record label still distributes
and markets the artist’s album but the royalty structure and deductions
become more negotiable. Because the label will no longer be responsible
for funding the recording process, it will be more willing to negotiate
better terms with the artist.

In this new scenario, the fact that the artist
retains the rights to his or her masters is very important for building
a secure career. While this type of deal can give the artist greater
creative freedom, it is not a bad deal for the label either. The label
will not have to invest as much up front as it might have with a signed
artist because in a licensing deal the artist delivers a finished
master.

Since the record company will no longer be
responsible for funding the recording, the money has to come from other
sources. These might include the artist, the management company, or an
investor. Perhaps a management company and a recording studio will
create a partnership or joint venture. Given the decreasing costs of
recording, it is reasonable to expect an artist to fund a high quality
recording. In the new model an artist might still need to repay
recording costs but they will be based on a more reasonable cost
structure. The artist will repay recoupable monies with interest.
However, a portion of earnings will be used to repay seed money and a
portion will be kept as the artist’s income. Most importantly, the
artist will begin to earn money from record one.

Publishing

Publishing can be a significant part of a
singer/songwriter’s career. Retaining one’s publishing rights is a wise
decision even in the current music business model. As a publisher, one
can execute one’s own paperwork, hire an attorney to do so, or assign
this responsibility to one’s manager for a fee. Income from publishing
is an important revenue source that should not be negotiated away
lightly. When signing a deal with a major publishing company, unless
one is a top songwriter, there is a good chance that one’s works will
be lost among millions of other copyrights. The songwriter does receive
an advance from the publisher against future royalties. However, little
more is received until that advance has been recouped. If the
songwriter’s compositions are not actively solicited for
synchronization licensing opportunities it can take a very long time to
recoup an advance. Relying on mechanical royalties to recoup an advance
can take years if the recording is not a big hit.

Given that synchronization deals can be such an
important revenue stream, and that placement in film and television can
be a powerful marketing tool, seeking synchronization licensing
opportunities is a vital part of a manager’s responsibilities. If the
artist has retained the rights to the master and the composition,
licensing music is very straightforward. This is because the artist has
the ability to negotiate both sides of the copyright without having to
seek approvals from label and publishing executives.

Innovative Licensing Opportunities

One artist who takes full advantage of licensing
opportunities is Moby. When his album Play was released in 1999, there
was little radio support. Music supervisors, however, were very
supportive. The tracks on Play were licensed for use in television,
film, and commercials. As of March 5, 2005, Play had sold 2.5 million
units—a clear demonstration of the effectiveness of marketing music
through alternative means.

Warner Brothers Television employs innovative
marketing techniques that have the potential to benefit independent
artists. At the conclusion of shows like the WB’s Smallville, viewers
often here the announcer say something to the effect of, “on tonight’s
episode music by The Shins was featured.” While this type of marketing
has been going on for years (music videos were sometimes featured at
the end of Beverly Hills, 90210 episodes), what’s new is the fact that
viewers can now log on to TheWB.com and find out exactly what music was
played in each episode. The website conveniently directs visitors to
Amazon.com to listen to, and buy, the CD. In some cases the website
provides information about the artist. The internet has allowed
creative people to add a new dimension to marketing music. It gives the
consumer all the necessary information to find and buy music. A
television show like News Corp.’s Fox Network’s The O.C. is another
example of the confluence of the music industry and popular television.
In one script, the characters attend a concert by the band Rooney. This
exposure for the band opened up many doors; ultimately Rooney’s sales
doubled.

In a similar manner, the Grammy Award winning
soundtrack to the movie Garden State has been helping a number of
artists break out.

Radio

Film soundtracks and videogames are powerful
marketing tools; ring tones and ring backs also represent significant
potential revenue streams. Because it can be so challenging and
expensive to break an artist at radio, these alternative marketing
avenues are often very important for an up-and-coming act. Radio play
lists are severely limited and very few songs, if any, are added week
to week. Fortunately, radio is changing with the advent of satellite
radio, Clear Channel’s “less is more” campaign, and “Jack,” a
newly-introduced radio format.

As of January 1, 2005 Clear Channel has cut back on
advertising time on its 1,200 radio stations. They have cut ads from
one minute to thirty seconds in hopes that the shorter spots (“less is
more”) will attract and keep more listeners. “Jack,” which debuted in
2001 on CKLG-FM in Vancouver, Canada, is a radio format whose play
lists consist of three thousand songs ranging from 1960s rock to
current hits. Given these changes in radio, perhaps over time it will
be easier to break an artist.

Advertising

Working directly with an advertising agency, artists
can become involved in large campaigns. In the past, many considered
taking part in an advertising campaign to be “selling out” but it is
now becoming increasingly more acceptable. Today we see many
contemporary artists offering up their music to peddle everything from
cars to lingerie. Bob Dylan’s music and image advertising a Victoria’s
Secret product was a shock to many, but it turned out to be an
effective way for him to market his music to a new audience. There
isn’t enough time on radio to play all the new releases and, more
importantly, radio is simply not interested in most music. Exposing a
song on television, or through any of the other licensing opportunities
mentioned above, allows an artist to reach audiences that might have
not even known he or she existed.

Owning one’s own master recording and working
directly with an advertising agency can also be very lucrative—music
licensing deals often reach six to seven figures. Leo Burnett, a major
advertising agency, started an “artists-in-residence” program. This
program bridges the gap between songwriters, producers, musicians, and
advertising agency staff. The hope is that it will cut through some of
the red tape and reduce the financial strain encountered by advertising
agencies when they license music. As long as songwriters/artists retain
the rights to their copyrights, the labels and publishers will no
longer be needed for these types of collaborations. In the old model,
where the record label and music publisher owned the copyrights, the
two companies generally took fifty percent of all synchronization
income in a typical deal. Under the new model (where artists retain
their copyrights), even if the advertising agencies were to cut
synchronization fees, artists would still be likely to earn more than
under the old scenario. Agencies pay less, artists earn more, and
labels and publishers are left out in the cold.

The Web

The democratizing nature of the internet gives
artists a chance to promote themselves. Today, it is not unusual for
artist websites to be developed, managed, and owned by record labels.
In the new scenario the artist and manager will create and operate what
fans will consider to be the artist’s official website. The rights to
the site and its content will belong to the artist. By linking the site
to internet stores like iTunes or Amazon.com, the artist will earn
revenue every time music is purchased through the site. Because a store
on the internet does not have the same space limitations as a
“brick-and-mortar” retailer, these online dealers can provide
independent artists retail opportunities not available under the old
model. Also, with the advent of websites like MySpace, artists have the
ability to market themselves to millions of online users for free.
According to an article in the November, 2005 issue of Wired, MySpace
logged 9.4 billion pageviews in August.2 MySpace has an organized
structure for bands to showcase their music, post pictures, display
lyrics, and post biographies. Fans can easily find their favorite bands
or search for new music.

Touring and Merchandising

Live performances and merchandising represent
important, and potentially lucrative, revenue streams. Sometimes a
label will help fund a tour, but this is usually a recoupable advance,
and therefore puts the artist further in debt. (Whether or not the
label is helping to fund a tour, it should be informed of tour
schedules so that the artist can be confident that promotions are
running with local radio and that product is available at retail.)
Sponsorships continue to play an increasingly active role in tour
funding.

Creative managers and artists are always looking for
innovative ways to increase tour income through sponsorship. Typically,
a record label does not participate in merchandising deals. This type
of licensing has always provided the artist with the potential to
supplement earnings and help fund tours.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to an artist-manager team
working independently of a record label. One is that the artist retains
the rights to his or her music. Very few artists can claim that they
control the rights to both their masters and their compositions. These
copyrights are important assets, which if properly managed, earn money
for a very long time. A second benefit is that the artist does not have
to repay huge advances to the record label because the artist-manager
team is accomplishing much the same tasks for a much smaller
investment. Because there will not be a long wait until recoupment is
reached, the artist will start earning royalties much earlier— usually
from the first record sale. Third, because the manager will not have as
many clients as a label, he or she will be able to devote more time and
thought to securing creative licensing and innovative sponsorship
opportunities that work best for the artist. Times have changed.
Technology has changed. One major obstacle blocking artists from
seizing more active roles in their careers is tradition. It’s time to
put the tradition of record label dominance behind us and move to a
more equitable and honorable way of doing business.

Endnotes

1 Peter Spellman, “The Future of Music Careers: Quantum Career
Development in a Transforming Industry,” Future of Music Coalition,
March 2003 (accessed March 18, 2004).

AVA LAWRENCE has worked, specializing in licensing,
for a number of entertainment companies in Los Angeles and New York
including Virgin Records, GRP Records, Modern Records, New World
Entertainment, and TVT Records/TVT Music, Inc. Professor Lawrence
received her B.S. in Music with a concentration in Music Industry from
Northeastern University, and her M.A. in Music Entertainment
Professions from New York University. Her main areas of research focus
on business trends and significant figures in the music industry.
Professor Lawrence is the faculty advisor for the Northeastern
University chapter of the Music and Entertainment Industry Students
Association.